Lessons Learned
Successful Refusal Strategies
Given that most offers to middle school adolescents are simple requests, it may not be surprising to know that most refusals are simply "No"or "no, I don't want some." A typology of resistance strategies emerged out of earlier studies that included the students' own descriptions of how they refused offers of drugs. The strategies in the REAL system have been refined and developed over the years and include:
- Refuse: A simple no
- Explain: "No" with an explanation. The two explanations of non-use identity ("I'm not that kind of person") and fear of consequences, were most common among white students, while non-use identity and an anti-drug attitudes were the most common among the black students. The black adolescents in our samples did not mention fear of consequences; rather, their explanations were much more along the lines of personal pride in their anti-drug, nonuse stance.
- Avoid: Avoiding the situation by not exposing oneself to situations in which drugs are present or deception (holding a glass filled with beer, but not drinking it).
- Leave: Leaving the situation.
Fewer adolescents older than 13 rely on a simple "no" strategy (40-56% of high school students and 40% of college students, compared with 81% of middle school students in our studies). The older students report using a wider variety of explanations, including fear of consequences, suggesting an alternate activity, claiming a dislike for the product, or the immorality of drug use, as well. On the one hand, it is not surprising that junior high students do not engage more sophisticated or elaborate explanations, given the overwhelming use of the simple request strategy across the studies. On the other hand, over reliance on this simple strategy will not serve the children well as they develop and enter high school. Among high school students, a simple no response may likely be followed by more concerted pressure to use drugs. Additionally, the younger adolescents are already facing a proportion of repeat offers similar to that reported by the older students.